1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to microprocessor systems having improved characteristics in performing arithmetic operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art microprocessor systems in general are limited to performing arithmetic operations in a single cycle on operands which are no longer than the microprocessor width itself. Thus, for example, a 16 bit microprocessor can perform arithmetic operations in a single cycle on operands no longer than 16 bits, requiring one or more additional cycles for operands longer than 16 bits. This results in a performance disadvantage in carrying out operations such as double precision integer or single precision floating point operations which employ 32 bit operands, or extended precision floating point operations which use 48 bit operands.